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Contemporary floor mosaics usually take the form of accents such as mosaic medallions and mosaic borders instead of the larger pictoral designs that covered the entire floors of ancient Roman houses. The contemporary mosaic accents are integrated with the existing flooring material, which is usually larger tiles of marble or ceramic. These limited area designs are more practical for the simple reason that most of the floor is covered with furniture, and it only makes sense to mosaic the small part of the floor where it will be consistently visible. That being said, I would absolutely love to have a customer email me pictures of a full floor design.

Mosaic Medallion

The mosaic below is a beautiful example of a compass rose medallion made by our customer Caroline Lahman from the tumbled marble mosaic we sell. I’m particularly impressed with the professional quality of the work Caroline did, and the fact that she actually took the time to photo-document the work in progess with publication-quality images, which is something I usually fail to do once I get rolling. The first step in making a mosaic medallion is to draw a pattern and tape it to a work table and cover the pattern with construction plastic or plastic kitchen wrap so that you don’t glue everything to your pattern. On top of this, fiberglass mesh is laid and the corners taped or tacked down securely. Although the pattern should be visible through the mesh, I find it useful to take a Sharpie brand marker and trace the design on the mesh directly just to make sure I can see it once things get a little messy. For most floors, water isn’t that much of an issue, but for shower floor and bathroom floor mosaics, it is something to think about. For these “wet” mosaics, I like to use only a drop of glue at the center of the tile when I attach it to the mesh. This leaves some of the tile uncovered by glue so that it can bond directly to the thinset mortar when the finished mosaic is mounted to the floor. The thinset mortar is much more water resistant than white PVA glues such as Weldbond. (That being said, Weldbond is fairly water resistant when fully cured.) Thinset mortar and grout are both concrete products that can stain porous materials like unpolished stone. To prevent this, the mosaic should be sealed before you grout it (and probably before you mount it because accidents can happen during mounting). The catch is that you don’t want to seal any surface where grout will need to bond, including the sides of the tiles. You only want to seal the top face of the stones. To do this, I use a small artist’s paint brush and carefully brush the sealer on the top face of the stone taking care to not let excess sealer run into the gaps between the stones. I use TileLab brand “Grout & Tile Sealer” for a normal seal. I use TileLab brand “Stone Enhancer & Sealer” if I want to slightly enhance/darken the stone colors (recommended). Both of these are available at Home Depot. Note that these products are invisible pore sealers and not an actual coating like polyurethane. The finished compass rose medallion is well integrated with existing floor and the color scheme of the room. Congratulations Caroline on the job well done!

Mosaic backsplashes and shower mosaics make great projects, and with a little thought, it is possible to come up with designs, even figurative designs (pictures), which integrate visually with existing tiling and decor.

Thinset, Mastic or Weldbond?

Ordinary bathroom and kitchen tiling is mounted using a product called tile mastic, which is a water-based adhesive. Why then do people say to avoid adhesives when creating mosaics in a shower?

The reason is simple: Bathroom tiles are typically 4 inches or larger, while the tiles used in an artistic mosaic are usually smaller than 1/2 inch. This difference in tile size means that the artistic mosaic has more grout lines and thus more places where can potentially penetrate behind the tile and weaken the adhesive over time.

However, mosaic backsplashes in both kitchen and bath CAN be installed using a white PVA adhesive such as Weldbond provided the mosaic is grouted properly and the grout is sealed with a tile and grout sealer, which is absolutely essential on horizontal surfaces where water can pool. In fact, if the mosaic will be wet more often than dry, then you should use thinset mortar instead of adhesive. (Thinset mortar is a sticky concrete that has polymers mixed in for strength and adhesive properties.) For shower floors, for example, you would definitely want to use thinset mortar instead of an adhesive. I should also note that while mosaic walls can be made on drywall or plywood, you should use 1/2″ concrete backer board for any floors to be tiled.

Use Mesh or Work Directly?

For large tiles, thinset is usually spread on with a trowel with 1/4″ notches, and the tile is pressed into the thinset quickly and efficiently. But artistic mosaic work has a different pace from architectural tiling just as painting a portrait takes more time and care than painting a barn door. Many artists overcome this difference in pace by first laying up the mosaic on fiberglass mesh or laying the mosaic upside down on mounting paper or clear mounting tape (in what is called the reverse method). With all the detail work done in advance, the sheets of mosaic are then pressed into spread thinset just as ordinary tile would be.

BUT, an artist often chooses to work in thinset directly and set one tiny tile at a time. Most people can figure out how to do this when using an adhesive, which comes in small convenient bottles, but working with a sticky concrete product like thinset mortar takes a little bit of thought. Fortunately, it isn’t that difficult, and some simple tools like palette knives or popsicle sticks and tweezers can take a lot of the frustration out of the process. I have written a page for how to use thinset for making mosaic art, which probably goes into more detail than you need for most projects.

I consider this mosaic to be the antithesis of the cutesy mosaics seen at most art and craft shows. Very nice work. Jason Hiller is a tile and stone contractor in the Bellingham, Washington area.

Mosaic fireplaces are made by applying mosaic to the surrounding face, but not the inside of the fireplace itself. In fact, if the fireplace is actually used and not merely decorative, you probably shouldn’t mosaic the hearth (floor) in front of the fireplace because heavy chunks of wood and fire irons tend to crack and knock tile loose over time. That being said, porcelain tile and many varieties of stone are very hard and could be used for the hearth. The fireplace surround can be mosaiced with a variety of materials including glass tile.

Brick and stone should be plastered over with thinset mortar to smooth the surface in advance of actually applying the mosaic. Alternatively, 1/2 inch concrete backer board can be mounted over the existing fireplace surround as a backing for your mosaic.

For mounting the tiles, a white PVA adhesive such as Weldbond or thinset mortar should be used. I have written a page for using thinset mortar for detailed mosaic art, but for larger tiles, the thinset could be spread with a 1/4 inch notched trowel, and the tile pressed into it relatively quickly as is typically done with bathroom tiling.

A Whimsical Fireplace Mosaic

The fireplace mosaic below is a whimsical design made by my friends for their ice cream shop, which was located in a restored Victorian house in Decatur, Georgia. The color choices and motifs are in keeping with the kid-friendly theme of their shop.

An Outdoor Fireplace Mosaic

For outdoor mosaics subject to rain, humidity and freezing temperatures, thinset mortar should be used instead of adhesive to mount tiles. Thinset is a sticky concrete product that contains polymers for added strength and adhesive properties. We usually use it for grouting our outdoor mosaics because it is stronger than grout, and it will be the same color as any thinset that squeezes up between the tiles from when they were attached. We have successfully dyed thinset with concrete dye without any noticeable loss of strength or adhesion. Concrete dye and thinset are sold at most building material stores.

The fireplace below is actually an outdoor pizza oven, based on the wood-fired Italian variety, and the mosaic is on the hearth in front of the oven. The oven and the mosaic were made by one of our customers and her boyfriend in his backyard. “I Cinquanta Gradini” means “The Fifty Steps” in Italian, a reference to the 50 steps leading up to the house and oven.